In a Whole New Light
by Mia-Zeklos
Summary: "And for a moment, Alec didn't care about coming home late; he didn't care what his parents would say and even what would he explain about the bouquet of flowers he would bring home." An insight into Magnus and Alec's first date from Alec's point of view, written for a prompt.


**Author's note: So, this was inspired by a post from promptformalec on tumblr. Someone had requested Magnus and Alec's first date, and there was this little thing posted, because, as we know, there'll be a Bane Chronicles installment for that. **

**This is exactly why I'm so nervous about writing the story in general – it surely wouldn't match the one we'll eventually get, and it won't be canon, so I'd be really grateful for any feedback on this. I'd like to know what you guys think.**

**Anyway, here's the thing that was written on the blog:**

_**There was the meeting point and one of them came too late.**_

_**There were the flowers one brought to which the other was allergic.**_

_**There was the restaurant where one of them didn't really know how to behave.**_

_**There was the walk through the park when it suddenly started raining.**_

_**There was the coffee that tasted so bad that they had to laugh.**_

_**There was a blushed face and a surprised face.**_

_**There was a lot of chatter.**_

_**There was comfortable silence.**_

_**There was a lot of fun.**_

_**There was a lot of disaster.**_

_**There was a smile.**_

_**There was a touch.**_

_**There was a kiss goodbye.**_

_**And the promise to meet Sunday night.**_

**o.O.o**

Alec was nervously pacing around the corner, already wondering if he had somehow gotten the wrong directions. It wasn't really typical for him to use the subway to get anywhere, and it wouldn't be very shocking if he'd gotten lost.

He looked around. Everything seemed right. The street name was the same as the one he had written in pen on his palm, and there was a bookstore just on the corner, just as Magnus had described it. In the moment, though, Magnus was missing.

The Shadowhunter was seriously debating whether to enter said bookstore while he waited or now, when he saw the Warlock hurrying down the street and getting closer to him.

It was apparent that he hadn't used glamour; most people were turning to look at him again as he passed by them, and Alec couldn't blame them for it.

Magnus was wearing a pair of tight blue jeans, ripped on some places, and black leather buckled boots – the heat that reigned around them didn't seem to bother him at the least. His t-shirt was a vivid blue one, and his jacket – despite its long sleeves – didn't even reach his belt. It seemed to be made from the same black leather that was used for his boots.

His clothes, though – as suiting the Warlock as Alec thought them to be – weren't what drew the attention so much.

Magnus's unruly dark hair was spiked again; the end of each spike was dyed in different colour. His eye shadow seemed black from afar but, as he got closer, Alec saw that it was like a raven's wings – there was a new colour to be found every time you looked at it from a different angle.

"Hello, Alexander." The Warlock greeted cheerfully, despite Alec's current loss of words. "I'm sorry for being late."

"No problem." The Shadowhunter murmured. He suddenly wished he had told Isabelle about all of this; she would have known what he'd have to wear. As it was, he was dressed in an old pair of jeans, his usual shoes that could easily be a part of his uniform, and a plain black shirt. The fact that there were no holes to be seen for a change was a small comfort.

"I brought you something." Magnus said and pulled him out of his thoughts. The Warlock smiled and – how hadn't Alec seen until now that he was hiding something behind his back? – handed him a bouquet of gardenias.

Oh dear.

"T-thank you." Alec said and smiled back, doing his best to ignore the stinging he felt both in his eyes and nose. His reaction to the flowers was immediate.

"Is there something wrong?" Magnus asked; concern lacing his words. Alec shook his head hastily.

"N-no, of course not. They're great." He said honestly. The flowers were indeed very beautiful. It wasn't their fault that Alec was allergic to them.

"Great!" The Warlock clapped his hands, his eyes gleaming with joy. "Now, I was thinking about a restaurant I'm sure you'll really like…

**o.O.o**

Alec was honest to God scared.

The place where Magnus had taken him was a restaurant – actually, it was fancier than any restaurant the Shadowhunter had ever been to. There was special cutlery for every dish they were served, and it was all seafood that Alec wasn't sure he had touched in his life – sushi, salmon, oysters, caviar, and a few things he didn't even know the name to – it was all unknown and (for the most part) foreign. And Alec wasn't really sure what to do.

"How are you lately?" Magnus asked with ease as he took a sip from the red wine they were served.

"Fine." Alec said, trying to be loud enough for the Warlock to hear him, despite the laughter and the voices of all the people in the restaurant.

The place was crowded. It was Friday night and Alec felt rather annoyed at himself for agreeing to that. They could have met in Thursday for example – apparently on Friday night, in a luxury restaurant, there was nothing but people who were out on a date.

But then again, _he_ was on a date as well. He tried to remind it to himself, even though the thought still felt weird to him.

Magnus sighed softly at the one-word response he got – again – and Alec wondered if he already regretted agreeing to that. He did his best to start a normal conversation.

"What about you?" he asked lamely. "My mother told me that she hired you to erase the memory of some people who thought they've seen the werewolves in Renwick."

"She did." Magnus said, shrugging. "Wasn't really that hard; there were about three of them who–" Suddenly he stopped and frowned.

"What is it?" Alec said, worried that he had said something wrong.

"You've got a bit of rise left there." The Warlock murmured and reached over the table. "Here, let me…"

Alec felt his long fingers gently remove the grain of rice of his lower lip. The Shadowhunter's hand trembled and he heard his fork clattering loudly on the floor. He felt his face warming up until it was probably an unhealthy shade of red, and mumbled 'I'm sorry'.

"It's okay, Alexander." Magnus left some money on the table, ignoring Alec's protests that he could pay his own food, and stood up.

"We may try something a little different."

**o.O.o**

As they walked through the park, Alec realized that he liked the experience much more than the one in the restaurant. There were still a lot of people around, yes, but they weren't all in one place and that made it easier to breather. The conversation seemed to go easier now as well, even though he was still a bit nervous. Magnus's patience and his attempts to break the ice between them helped a bit.

The Warlock was just explaining him some pop-culture reference Alec hadn't understood, when they felt the first cold raindrops that had fallen from the already darkened sky. Alec hadn't realized when the weather had changed and he felt himself blushing when he answered his own question – he had barely noticed anything around in the last hour or so because of Magnus.

"Oh Lilith." The Warlock's voice was nonchalant despite the situation they were currently in. "We better hide somewhere before the actual storm begins."

At Alec's question how exactly did he know that there was a storm coming, he just smiled knowingly and said nothing.

"I'd really like to hurry up." Magnus mentioned after a minute or two. "I can't have that ruined by the rain; I worked on it for an hour." He gestured at his hair and Alec couldn't help but smile. He took the Warlock's hand – earning a surprised look from him – and started walking faster.

They ended up in a café that was completely empty, except for the bored girl behind the counter. Trying to make up for the undoubtedly expensive food Magnus had paid for in the restaurant, Alec bought coffee for them both and they chose the table near the window, looking out on the nearly empty street.

Silence settled in again, but it was different this time. It wasn't uncomfortable like before; Alec wasn't desperately thinking of something to say. It was all so calm that neither of them actually wanted to break it.

Suddenly Magnus, who had recently taken a sip from his coffee, chocked on it and narrowly avoided spitting it back into the cup – or so it seemed. At Alec's questioning look, he laughed and his eyes lit up in a way the Shadowhunter could easily get accustomed to.

"That's awful." The Warlock said between small laughs. Alec's eyes widened.

"Sorry. It's my fault. I chose the place." Angel, why hadn't they stayed in the restaurant?

"It doesn't matter." The Warlock dismissed his worries with a wave of his hand. "It's not like we're here for the coffee anyway."

"And it's still better than Izzy's." Alec pointed out as he took an experimental sip of his coffee as well.

"Really?" Magnus asked curiously. "Is she that bad of a cook?"

"Pretty much." Alec nodded. "I'm not suicidal enough to eat whatever she cooks for the most part."

Magnus laughed heartily at that, and the Shadowhunter was pretty surprised – most of the time, in the rare moments when he tried to make a joke, nobody found it funny.

As soon as it stopped raining, they went outside and that was when Alec realized that the gardenias problem had gotten worse – the rain that had fallen at them before they went to the café had made their scent stronger. And, of course, as soon as he started thinking about it, he felt the need to sneeze and his vision started to fog up.

"Er," Magnus's careful voice could be heard. "Are you okay?"

"S-sure. I just" – sneeze – "There's something" – sneeze – "in the air that–" He gave up. "I think it's the flowers."

The Warlock stared at him blankly for a few moments, then burst out laughing.

"You're allergic to _gardenias_? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Well, they're really beautiful and I didn't want to ruin it and–"

"You wouldn't have ruined anything, Alexander." Magnus said, still smiling. Alec could see that he was developing a habit of calling him his full name when he wanted to convince him in something. He had yet to decide if it was working. "You still don't fail to surprise me."

"Still not what you expected, then?" Alec asked, recalling their conversation in the Warlock's loft.

"Not at all."

"In a good or a bad way?"

"Good. Definitely good."

Alec felt the need to compliment him as well.

"You're not what I expected, too." He said. "When I first heard your name, I thought of… I don't know. I haven't met many warlocks before, much less talked to them, but I expected someone more… strict and possibly someone who wouldn't really want to talk to us. I mean, you weren't very eager to let us in, but you did. Warlocks are strange creatures."

Magnus chuckled. "I'm flattered."

Alec resisted the urge to introduce his head to the nearest wall. He would do it repeatedly, and with great joy. It was just what he deserved.

"Sorry. I wasn't trying to be rude." He mumbled. "Actually, I meant it as a compliment. You're... different. In a good way." he hurried to add before his own question from a minute ago had the chance to backfire.

Yet another amused glance. "Define 'different'."

As Alec tried to think carefully to form an answer, he vaguely registered that they were back on one of the main boulevards in New York. There were people bypassing them and the Shadowhunter found himself enjoying the city; ever since he was a child, he always longed to get back to Alicante. But now, it all seemed different. He wondered once again if it was because of the company he had, when he tried to pull himself out of those thoughts, remembering that Magnus was still waiting for an answer. Without really thinking more about it, he just went about it with all honesty.

"Well... the only warlocks I've ever seen looked like monsters. And, most important, acted like ones. You're just so... human." Alec felt rather embarrassed. That was why he shouldn't be allowed to talk. Nothing good ever happened.

"Human? "Those striking cat-like eyes were staring intently at him. The Shadowhunter rolled his eyes.

"They don't make you a monster." he said simply. "They're extraordinary."

Magnus gave a small bow.

"Why, thank you."

Alec looked at him suspiciously. Just as it was when he was around Jace, the Shadowhunter didn't know when he was being serious ad when he was mocking him.

"What time is it?" he asked, trying to distract himself. The Warlock shrugged.

"Probably about eleven. Why?"

"It'd be better to get home soon." Alec said half-heartedly. He really didn't want to go.

"How old are you again?" Magnus asked innocently and Alec blushed for the hundredth time - he knew he was altogether too old to worry about coming home in time.

"I turn eighteen next month." he replied finally.

"I see." he said and turned back to face Alec, who suddenly noticed that they had reached the subway station. "Well, then you'd really better get going-"

"No. Wait." Alec said and stopped the Warlock, reaching to take him by the wrist. For a moment he didn't care about coming home late; he didn't care what his parents would say and even what would he explain about the bouquet of flowers he would bring home. "I... the situation in the Institute is pretty uncertain in the moment but... whatever happens, promise me I'll see you again."

"How old-fashioned of you." Magnus joked, but there was warmth in his eyes - and his smile. "What do you think about Sunday night?"

"Great." Alec said, but before he could add anything else, Magnus kissed him.

The kiss was soft and gentle and nothing like their last one. It wasn't so urgent and they didn't cling to each other so desperately. It felt like they had all the time in the world and it left Alec breathless. He broke the kiss and stared up into Magnus's eyes; they - and basically his whole being as well - were shining on the city lights as he smiled again.

"See you Sunday, then." he whispered.

"See you."Alec said and, as Magnus started walking down the street, the Shadowhunter couldn't help but just stand there for a moment and smile like an idiot into nothingness before he went on his way down the station, his heart fluttering in his chest.


End file.
